Christmas Day
Amelia spent a restless night as her mind churned through the events of the last few days and every conversation she had had with Adam Wellworth. In the cold dawn, she realised she had jumped to conclusions about him. She admitted to herself that in his position, she might have behaved exactly as Adam had done. To blame him for his deception was so unjust of her.
She should not blame her parents for their desperate money-hunger, but that was a little more difficult to forgive.
She reproached herself for her uncharitable behaviour into the early hours of the morning. Finally, exhausted, she slept.
***
Midday was approaching by the time Amelia compelled her weary body downstairs to greet her aunt in her bedchamber, where she spent most mornings.
“How are you feeling today?” her great-aunt asked. “Any revelations in the night?”
What a perceptive woman Aunt Lavinia was. “I feel I’ve come to understand Major Wellworth’s actions.”
“I’m pleased to hear it. He is a good man, from all I can tell.”
“Your support of him counts for a great deal, Aunt Lavinia.”
“And he also has the Colonel’s good opinion, I might add.”
Yes, they were right. It behoved her to make amends.
Shortly after luncheon, a rap sounded at the front door, followed by voices, and Symes announced that Major Wellworth had arrived and requested an audience with them.
“Show him into the parlour, Symes. We shall be with him shortly,” Aunt Lavinia said.
They joined the Major. Dark shadows underscored his eyes, evidence that he had spent as sleepless a night as Amelia. He faced her, his shoulders set in a stiff line, as though he fronted a court martial and expected a hanging judgement.
Aunt Lavinia greeted him cordially, then said to Amelia, “I shall leave it to you to explain yourself to the Major. You have about ten minutes while I reply to some correspondence, then we must attend the Christmas service.”
Guilt weighed heavy like a ship’s ballast in the tempest that raged in Amelia’s stomach. She turned to Adam. “I owe you an apology for my behaviour. I should never have made comment about your age and infirmity. It was rude and unladylike. I’ve concluded that had I been in the same situation of being roundly disparaged, I would not have admitted I was the so-named person.”
Adam’s shoulders sagged, and for the first time since his arrival a smile tugged his lips out of their set line. In four brisk strides, he crossed the room to take her hand in his. “You have forgiven me for my cowardly deception?”
“That is not how I view your actions, but I can forgive you ... if you overlook my behaviour?”
He squeezed her hand and with emotion, said, “There is nothing to overlook.”
She sighed with relief.
His eyes were lit by some inner glow. “So, Miss Fortescue, have I overcome your conception of me as an old man? I confess to turning thirty on New Year’s Day. Not so old, I would have thought, although much older than your twenty years. As for being maimed—that is true. A musket ball broke my thigh bone and the sawbones had to do some digging to get it out. My leg still gives me hell, but it’s on the mend. Pardon my language.”
Amelia’s cheeks flamed. He remembered everything she had said. “I was wrong, and I apologise for the insulting way in which I spoke of you. It was unworthy of me. You were injured in a noble cause.”
“You are completely forgiven.” He raised her hand to his lips.
Her heart melted at his tender touch. “What must you think of me … of my parents … of us?”
“That you have quite typical parents who want a husband for their daughter. And need a financial boost for their reserves.”
“I’m glad you can see their behaviour in such an understanding way.”
“I do, and I wish you, and your great-aunt, would return with me to Wellworth Park to attend the New Year’s Eve ball.”
Aunt Lavinia swept into the room. “Did I hear an invitation to a ball? I, for one, would love to attend, but I shall leave it to Amelia to decide.”
It was so tempting. She glanced at her great-aunt before directing her answer to him. “We would be delighted.”
“I hope you’ll both enjoy your stay at Wellworth Park. There are many activities for your amusement.” An open smile of encouragement lit his face.
“I’m sure we shall,” Aunt Lavinia agreed.
“When do we depart?” Amelia asked.
“The morning of New Year’s Eve should be soon enough. My mother will have the organising well in hand.”
Amelia drew a deep breath to quell the queasiness in her stomach. She had to be forthright with him from now on. “I have one more thing to ask, Major Wellworth.”
“Of course, but aren’t we well enough acquainted for you to call me Adam?”
They were inching closer with every minute they spent together. She nodded. “And you should call me Amelia.”
He flashed a brief smile. “How may I be of service, Amelia?”
“Can you assist me in making my parents understand my wishes?”
“I am more than willing to do so.”
“I will try to convince them to allow me to marry whom I choose. If I fail again, surely all you need to do is not offer for me.”
He gave her a long look, then a resigned smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “Of course. You can’t be forced to marry me unless I offer for you. Relax and enjoy the ball at Wellworth Park. There will be visitors from the neighbourhood, whom I’m sure you will find welcoming.” He hesitated, then said, “Should I propose at the New Year’s Eve ball, I would prefer you did not accept, if you were not fully committed to sharing your life with me.”
She heard him with mixed emotions—gratitude that he wished only for her happiness, and that he was willing to assist her to defy her parents, and yet a contrary disappointment at the same time, in his willingness to assist her in escaping the alliance. She doubted now that a proposal would ever be made.
“In the meantime, Miss Fortescue, let us start again. Over the next few days, would you show me all the sights of Bath, so I may enjoy them through the eyes of a long-term resident? I lacked that assistance when I last visited and fear I experienced only the most commonplace.”
“Of course. But right now I want to know who you are, Major Wellworth—not what you own or your income. I want to know your interests, your hopes, and your dreams.” She took his hand and led him to the chaise longue angled towards the fireplace lit by a blazing Yule log.
“Tell me of your past, starting with your time in the army and ending when we met. What have you learned during that time?”
He studied her face, as though making a decision, then sucked in a breath as he briefly closed his eyes. “I served in Portugal and Spain with Wellington for four years, then sold out and returned to England to, I thought, my old life as a gentleman banker. I wanted a normal life, with a wife and a family. So, I began my campaign in Bath during its winter season. As you know, I met Lady Lavinia, and of course, I already knew the Colonel from my earliest years in the army. I found no-one to engage my interest here, so on I went to London for the Season.” He took her hand in his. “It was there that I saw you, Miss Fortescue—during the Little Season. You took my breath away.”
That can’t possibly be true. An incredulous chuckle escaped her. “You’re exaggerating, Major. Do not try flattery on me.”
A frown of confusion crinkled his brow. “I do not. Let me explain. I attended Lady Preston’s ball. It was a huge crush, even for so early in the Season. There was a row of debutants in their finest white gowns lined up with the chaperones around the room. They were the bespectacled, the plain, and the shy. I danced with one, Miss Anne Briggs. When I asked her how she was enjoying the evening, she said, ‘The highlights of this evening are dancing with you and the kindness of Miss Fortescue.’”
“Curious to know more, I enquired what kindness you had effected. She said you had a special way of knowing when someone was shy and awkward, and that you drew them into a discussion and made them feel as though they were the most marvellous conversationalist. And that you introduced gentlemen to them and somehow compelled them to offer to dance.”
“Those acts of kindness weren’t the usual ones of a debutant in competition for a husband. After that commendation, I was intrigued. I watched you for the remainder of the evening. And she was right. You spent all your time talking with the wallflowers and encouraging the young gentlemen who came to offer to dance with you, to instead dance with whichever young lady with whom you were currently conversing.”
“That is an exaggeration! Of course I talked with my fellow debutants, and isn’t it the objective of a ball to introduce and be introduced to eligible parties?”
He bowed in acknowledgement of the truth of her statement. “But not usually to the detriment of one’s own dance card, I would suggest, Miss Fortescue.”
“Oh, I didn’t take during the season. My only real admirers were those wealthy cits seeking to improve their social standing through marriage, and none of them impressed me. Why did you not ask me to dance, Major?”
“I spent that first evening doing reconnaissance on you, Miss Fortescue. It was my plan to seek an introduction through your parents at the next event we attended, but alas, Bonaparte got in the way by escaping from Elba. It was all the news the next day. Knowing that most of Wellington’s Peninsular army was dispersed across the world, I joined another regiment and set sail for Belgium.”
“You were willing to risk your life and your family’s future prospects again?”
“Preventing Bonaparte retaking Europe was a far more important cause to me. It took so many years to overcome his rule. So many lives were lost and so much suffering created by him. I could not bear to think of that happening again.”
Such a sense of duty and self-sacrifice was rare.
“You know the rest of that story. I was injured at Waterloo and convalesced at Wellworth Park. The images of you that evening, and my thwarted wish to meet you, were my motivation to recover. When I did, I returned to London and immediately sought out your parents. Your father was adamant that only a very substantial settlement would induce him to consider my suit and even permit me, a banker’s son, to be introduced to you.”
Oh, that is too cruel and mercenary, even for him! Amelia placed her hand on Adam’s arm in sympathy. “I apologise sincerely for my father’s behaviour.”
“There is no need. He was only doing what was right for you and his family interests.”
“Oh, do not excuse him! I’m mortified by his behaviour.”
“It does not matter. In the end, we came to an agreement, that you and your parents were to come to Wellworth Park for the Christmas week so that we could be introduced and get to know each other. There was to be no talk of marriage at such an early stage in our acquaintance! I wanted you to meet my parents and see my home, as well as to get to know me, so that if I could engage your affections, then you could make an informed decision about what your future life with me would be like.”
Amelia broke their eye contact and lowered her chin to her chest while she thought about all he had revealed. To have endured so much, and persisted in his pursuit of her despite serving the nation, injury, and her parents’ manoeuvrings. It wasn’t just her mind overwhelmed by his actions, her heart was also so full of emotion it seemed to have expanded to fill her chest. She swallowed to remove the lump in her throat. “Thank you for your honesty. Yours was a very well-thought out and sensible plan, but my parents had a wholly different view of the affair.”
“So I now understand, and I’m sorry to have been the cause. I was naïve about their take on the matter.”
“I don’t think you realise how desperate their money situation is.”
“I ought to have.”
She nodded in acceptance.
He drew a deep breath. “Let us start again, Miss Fortescue.” He held out his hand. “I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.”
She slid her hand into his and he raised it to his mouth to place a kiss upon her knuckles, all the while his chocolate-coloured eyes gazing into hers. Her heart leapt in her chest. When she spoke, her voice was a little breathless. “And I’m delighted to meet you too. I look forward to showing you around Bath.”
Perhaps Major Adam Wellworth was the gentleman she had been searching for, all these months?
***
Over the next few days, Adam experienced a different and more fascinating Bath than he had on his previous visit.
On Boxing Day, he escorted Amelia to the Pump Room, where their fingers brushed together repeatedly as Amelia passed cup after cup of the appalling-tasting, smelly water to him. That he felt quite bilious when he returned to his hotel was no surprise, but not even turning green from the brew would have stopped him experiencing each jolt of awareness when their fingers touched.
At the Roman Baths the next day, Adam sheltered Amelia under his umbrella from a short sharp shower of rain. Perhaps they could have stood further out of the weather, hard up against the stone walls like the other hardy visitors, but where was the joy in that? Not when Amelia fitted so snuggly against his chest, encircled by his arm.
Another day, with Amelia’s hand nestled in the crook of his arm, they walked the paths of the snow-dappled Sydney Gardens … until Adam guided Amelia behind a wide-trunked tree and stole a kiss. He would have like to have had many more, but the popularity of the gardens in such fine weather was against them and half the town seemed to have chosen that day to perambulate there.
One evening they attended an assembly in the Upper Rooms, where they drew the censure of the Master of Ceremonies for dancing together more than twice. Amelia had blushed hotly as Adam told the man it was an honest error. Lady Lavinia had snapped her fan closed, apologised profusely for her failure as a chaperone to her great-niece because she had been chatting to Colonel Landon, and ushered the couple into her carriage bound for home. To them she said not one word of recrimination. Instead, after tea had been served in the parlour she fell asleep, snoring loudly. Adam and Amelia were left effectively alone, to entwine their fingers, gaze into each other’s eyes and talk, for as long as she slept. And that was a satisfyingly long time.
Adam found Amelia’s interest in helping those less fortunate than herself equalled his own. They visited some of the many charitable institutions that Amelia supported with her time and Lady Lavinia’s money. He told her of his work to assist the families of dead and invalided soldiers from the war.
He wished there was more time before they needed to return to the reality of Wellworth Park and the pressure from Amelia’s parents for her to marry him to resolve their financial plight.
He was more in love with her than ever, but were her feelings for him strong enough for her to want to marry him?